The Challenge: Scaling Strategic IT Planning
Josh McClure joined PEAKE Technology Partners as an Account Manager in 2023 with a focus on helping clients think more strategically about technology. A few years later, he stepped into the role of Technology Alignment Manager and was tasked with scaling strategic IT planning across the company’s client base.
Josh quickly saw a gap between identifying technical issues and translating them into clear, strategic plans clients could understand. “The information coming out of our assessments was helpful, but our recommendations were falling flat with clients,” says Josh. “There were some missing pieces.”
Without a structured way to connect findings to long-term plans, proposals felt disconnected from business goals. “Clients weren't accepting our ideas because there wasn’t always a clear strategy, and it could come across like we were just trying to sell more products and services,” he says.
Internally, Account Managers had to turn assessment outputs into strategic presentations on their own, pulling from spreadsheets, trackers, and multiple systems—which was time-consuming, inconsistent, and inefficient. Preparing for IT business reviews could take hours and often required input from several departments.
To deliver high quality guidance to clients at scale, the team knew they needed a better way to translate technical findings into structured, strategic plans.
The Solution: A System for Turning Assessments Into Actionable Strategy
The PEAKE team evaluated several technology options (including continuing to use their existing assessment tools), before choosing ScalePad’s Lifecycle Manager. The deciding factor was how well the platform turned assessments into clear initiatives tied to a larger strategic plan, as opposed to simply generating assessments.
Lifecycle Manager helped the PEAKE team standardize the process after an initial assessment, allowing them to easily define client goals, build initiatives, assign budgets and timelines, and create clear roadmaps the team could confidently present. It also replaced the scattered spreadsheets and trackers previously used to manage client conversations and issues. Now, the team had a centralized view of each client’s strategy and history, making it easier to manage relationships, build presentations, and transition accounts between managers.
The Results: Higher-Quality Recommendations Lead to Better Customer Experiences
By centralizing their client data and standardizing processes in Lifecycle Manager, the PEAKE team has been able to save time while strengthening their client relationships. Specifically, they’ve achieved:
- Faster Client Approvals. Previously, recommendations clients didn’t fully understand were often declined. Now that clients understand the longer-term roadmap, it’s easier to get them to agree. “A strategic roadmap changes the nature of client conversations,” says Josh. “Rather than presenting recommendations for a client to accept or decline, we are aligning on timing and fit within their budget cycle. The question moves from ‘do you want to do this?’ to ‘when does this work best for you?’
- Saving 3-4 Hours Per Presentation. "Previously, strategy discussions often meant four people in a room—engineering, service desk, account management, and alignment—figuring out how to present to a client. Now, the team can quickly create a clear plan with budget and project context with significantly less back-and-forth. Everybody gets time back in their schedules,” reports Josh. “It frees the Account Managers to spend more time with customers, instead of building strategy decks and pulling information from multiple sources.” Josh estimates this saves Account Managers 3-4 hours per presentation.
- Stronger Strategic Partnerships. Lifecycle Manager improves the client experience by visually connecting goals, initiatives, budgets, and timelines—helping customers understand the strategy behind recommendations and plan their IT investments over time. “When customers can see the plan laid out visually over the year, they understand the strategy behind our recommendations,” he says. “They realize we’re not just trying to sell them something. We want a seat at the table.”
Thanks to Lifecycle Manager, the PEAKE team now consistently turns isolated technical issues into well-structured initiatives that tie multiple problems to a client’s broader goals. “None of that was really possible with the workload Account Managers had previously,” says Josh. “It has significantly eased the admin burden on the team, all while providing a better, more forward-thinking experience for customers.
PEAKE Technology Partners is part of the Omega Systems family of companies. Omega Systems is also a ScalePad customer and provides managed IT, cybersecurity and compliance solutions to more than 700 customers across the U.S.